How long does a "weight loss plateau" last? I'm using South Beach and lost 10 pounds in two

[patricia92243]

weeks - after that - nothing. I'm faithfully sticking to the basics - no sweets, bread, potatoes, white rice., white pasta. I also use skim milk, low fat cheese, salad dressing, etc.

I am now walking 1 1/2 mile a day.

I cannot think of anything else I can do to lose weight.

I am starting to get discouraged. If this is NOT a plateau, I don't know what else to do.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. muscle weighs more than fat

so just going by the scale can be deceiving. Measurements and the way my clothes fit seem to work better for me than the scale. I don't even own a working one.

[noamnety]

2. I've had some plateaus that lasted a month.

You didn't mention how much water you are drinking, you might look at that. Another thing is to switch up your exercise. As your body gets used to one type of exercise, it becomes more efficient at it, and burns less calories doing it. You could try shortening your walks and adding some simple strength training moves to keep your workout to the same amount of time.

[Broken_Hero]

3. No idea anymore

When I was younger my longest plateau was about two weeks without any loss. About four/five years ago I hit a plateau that lasted over two months, and since then my weight loss attitude has changed. I have no idea anymore on plateau's and frankly they scare the hell out of me.

[patricia92243]

4. I am older - actually make that old! Maybe that has something to do with it. I'm going a

couple of more weeks - then I'm not sure what I'll do - but it will probably be more portion control. Although my daughter - who is a middle aged woman - eats like a horse - and still maintains her weight. She says it is because she eats the right things.

I thought I was eating the right things.

[noamnety]

5. How many calories roughly are you eating in a day?

I'm not huge on calorie counting, and have done well without it. But I did find it helpful at my first plateau to track calories for about a week on my fitnesspal.com just to get a ballpark estimate and make sure I wasn't eating way too little or chowing down 3000 calories a day.

[Broken_Hero]

6. At the time between 1200-1600 calories a day.

I after two weeks I upped my bike riding from 18 miles to 24 plus. After another two weeks I decided to add a mile and a half walk to my 24 mi bike ride. I heard that if you do the same exercise all the time your body gets use to it, and you might have to shock it a bit by doing a different type of exercise, so I added walking. After two weeks of doing 24 miles on bike, and 1.7 my plateau was still in effect, and my heart was basically destroyed and frustration was my constant partner. After 6 week of trying to break it by adding more exercise, I went back to my initial 18+miles for a couple more weeks before I threw in the towel. I couldn't break 347, as a matter of fact I'd gain to 350, and bounce back down to 347 but I couldn't break it.

[Major Nikon]

7. The South Beach diet doesn't work for everyone

The principal behind the diet is that by eating foods with a lower glycemic index you will break the eating/hunger roller coaster that high glycemic index foods create. However the whole idea is to eat less calories. Sometimes people eat for reasons other than because they are hungry. If you are still eating more calories than you are burning, the South Beach diet isn't going to do much for you.

[The empressof all]

8. You always lose more weight in the beginnings of a diet

Your 20 pounds in two weeks was really quite a bit. In the first few weeks you generally lose a lot of water and then your body settles into a groove of about a pound a week or so. Keep at it, drink plenty of water, and switch things up a bit. What works for one person doesn't always work for everyone. I find keeping my carbs low and eating protein throughout the day works for me which is a lot like South Beach Plan. Maybe try eating 6 small meals a day.

I've had plateaus for as long as a month but I'm in for the long haul and have a bit to lose.

[maddezmom]

9. I have been at mine for about 2 months

Could be because I am focused more on toning as opposed to weight lose right now, not sure. But I agree with others on this thread about getting enough water and mixing up your excercise routine.

[MissMillie]

10. Sometimes "faithfully sticking" to a plan is what causes the plateau

Our bodies have evolved (over centuries) to survive famine.

When you do the same thing over and over and over, your body figures it out, and your metabolism adjusts to keep you from "starving".


I recommend that you have a potato now and then (maybe once a week or so), or have some regular cheese. You can alter your calorie intake to accommodate the potato or cheese, but add it in anyway.

Keep your body guessing.

[laundry_queen]

13. One diet book that worked for me before my wedding

Was one that insisted on boosting your caloric intake every weekend. On the weekend, you added extra calories (200? 400? I can't remember). The calorie intake during the week was quite low (I think 1000-1200/day) but then you really boosted on the weekends. The premise was to fool your body into thinking there was no famine happening because of the variation in caloric intake. I did eventually plateau but not as early as I did with other diets. And the plateau was over quickly. It was a pretty old book, can't remember the name of it, but a friend lent it to me because it worked well for her and I found it worked well for me too.

[HUFFLEPUFF]

11. 3 weeks

3 weeks

[gopiscrap]

12. welcome to DU

[gopiscrap]

15. welcome to DU

[coucouza]

16. weight loss plateau

by making small changes to your diet and exercise fitness routine, you can kick start your metabolism into a fat burning machine again.